Antony Blinken alleges China wants to ‘influence and interfere’ in upcoming US presidential elections

in an interview with cnn On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shared his opinion about Chinese efforts to influence the upcoming US elections. The comments came after his visit to China, where he spent hours discussing various controversial topics with high-level Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping. Major issues addressed during his visit included US technology controls and Beijing’s support for Moscow.

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Blinken said he reiterated President Joe Biden’s message he delivered to Xi Jinping during their summit in San Francisco last November not to interfere in the 2024 US presidential elections.

After this Xi pledged that China would not do this. When asked whether China has so far been violating Xi’s commitment to Biden, Blinken said, “We have generally seen evidence of efforts to influence and allegedly interfere, and we continue to see that.” Want to make sure this is over as soon as possible.”

“Any interference from China in our election is something we are watching very carefully and is completely unacceptable to us, so I wanted to make sure they heard that message again,” he said.

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According to the report, Blinken further said there were concerns about the influence campaigns by China and other countries over existing social divisions in the US.

Beijing has consistently said it does not interfere in US elections, citing its principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. However, entities perceived to be linked to China, or Beijing, have faced allegations of political interference in other countries, such as Canada.

Despite its official stance, these allegations show that China’s actions may not always be consistent with its publicly stated principles.

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Blinken’s visit to China, his second in less than a year, is part of a series of high-level engagements aimed at improving ties and building on progress achieved during the Biden-Xi summit late last year. Have to increase. These recent interactions mark a gradual expansion of the already tense bilateral communications between the two countries.

“We are (now) focused on areas where we are working to cooperate, but at the same time we are very clear about our differences and that is important if we want to avoid the competition that could lead to We are turning into conflict,” Blinken said.

(With inputs from ANI)

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Published: 27 April 2024, 08:32 am IST